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This is just not true. Denmark and Italy use their own plugs; Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus use the British plug; and the heart of the EU is divided between French
by troad 4y ago
This is just not true. Denmark and Italy use their own plugs; Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus use the British plug; and the heart of the EU is divided between French-style and Schuko plugs. (Switzerland, though outside the EU, also uses its own plugs.)
As I understand it, EU moves to standardise plugs failed in the 90s.
- krzyk 4y agoOh, right I forgot about Malta (basically UK mini) and Cyprus. But Italy has the "normal" (schuko or French) plug. The old one (three holes in line) are in older houses mostly. My previous data was based on my travel in EU. Now I'm corrected. But there is a standardized plug that fits both schuko and French style sockets. That was probably why I didn't notice it earlier.
- troad 4y ago> But Italy has the "normal" (schuko or French) plug. The old one (three holes in line) are in older houses mostly. That's a bit of an oversimplification. I was in Italy on Thursday and also early in May. My very modern hotel rooms mostly had Italian three-hole sockets, with a single token 'standard' euro socket provided at the table, that nevertheless didn't always accept my (French-style) laptop cable because the prongs were too thick. Also, flashy modern hotels aside, I'd say most houses in Italy are "older houses". The three-hole socket is definitely extremely common in Italy in my experience. In fact, there's two incompatible three-hole Italian sockets - a larger one for most appliances, and a smaller one for lights.